Post Christmas

Caleb:

Christmas is behind us and the New Year ahead.  The best thing that happens this time of year is the Winter Solstice on Dec 21.  I happen to be a fan of longer days and more day light and am thrilled that the days are getting longer.

It was fun to see you on Christmas Eve and talk to you.  Mom is so proud of you.  I've been around her now for 23 years (counting the time that we spent together before our marriage) and I've never seen her so proud of anything or anyone.

Here are a couple of thoughts after talking to you on Christmas Eve...

1) You are naturally friendly and kind.  We listened to a couple of your phone calls, one with an investigator and one with a member, and you are very well spoken and impossible not to like.  Continue to allow your personality to shine through as you meet people and interact with everyone on your mission.

2) Be aware of the power of positive self-talk.  When you talk about your area, always try to talk of it in positive terms and try to see the best in the people, the area, etc.  This is especially true when talking to members.  They have lived there before you came and will be there long after you are gone.  The memory of you should be of a young man that they loved and that loved them (which includes where they live).  Further, if you treat them well, they will at least try to help you do missionary work.  Remember that they will try for basically one of two reasons, first because they are impressed with you and want to help or second, because they know they should and they feel compelled to help.  You'll get better results with the first motivation but It's up to you to determine what their motivation will be to help.

3) One of the things I'm not proud of about my mission was the way I treated sister missionaries.  As a group, they were pretty useless and I treated them with contempt and was not very kind.  Looking back, I could've and should've not allowed my feelings toward them dictate how I treated them.  With this group, you can practice positive self-talk, being kind, and thinking positive thoughts and they will respond to you.  This may lead to any number of things that will be positive for you including using their car to go meet with part-member families.  Your reputation will proceed you as you move into new areas and if sisters know that you will be kind and are excited to interact with you I think you can guess the fruits of that.

Anyway, I'm proud of you.  You're a special young man.  I love you,

Dad